Hillary Clinton's new highlights prove there's more to being blonde than making a political statement

Blondes have always made headlines. This week’s New York Magazine notes that “Recently, a study found female politicians with blonde hair tend to do better. Which does call to mind one very notable female politician and her relationship to her hair: For as long as Hillary Clinton was a public figure, Hillary Clinton was a blonde.” But, they’d noticed that “in the first photographs taken after the election, it appeared that she had finally given up the gimmick and let a bit of her natural gray-and-brown find its way in.” According to New York Magazine, this is a good thing - Clinton rejecting a society-approved aesthetic.

But there’s a catch. Yesterday, Clinton attended a film screening of Rebel in the Rye in New York, and guess what? Her bob is blonder than ever. Perhaps, instead of being politically motivated, Clinton just likes being blonde. And perhaps we shouldn’t care either way - it’s just hair, after all.

Marilyn MonroeCredit:
Hulton Archive

Unless, of course, it’s my hair - and then it’s much more important. There is direct correlation between the length of my roots and my mood, my self esteem, how capable I feel. I’ve cancelled dinners, backed out of dates, and avoided cameras over the last few weeks. Why? Because my hairdresser Ellie has moved to Berlin. I have not taken this well.

Being blonde is not so much as a style choice as a lifestyle choice. Firstly, you’re choosing to spend a chunk of your disposable income on your hair. I’ve found that a blonde that looks expensive probably is. Before I hit the bottle (of bleach), I’d get my healthy, long brown hair cut about once a year. For me, being blonde means committing to an appointment, and bill, every six weeks. You need more expensive products, too - conditioners from the shelves of Boots can’t soothe bleached hair like their luxury counterparts (hello, Oribe and Kerastase. Goodbye, wine money).

Brigitte BardotCredit:
Corbis

But just when I was beginning to worry that I had a problem, Clinton reemerges with her root-free do to make me feel better. A colleague blames childhood for her highlight habit - most blonde children’s curls have turned mousy-brown by their teens - around the same time your body completely changes, you get your first spots, and you discover self-loathing. A trip to the hairdresser can mean rediscovering your youth - especially as, even later, blonde can hide grey hairs so well. Emma Roberts went blonde this week because, her hairdresser says, Mercury is in retrograde.

Studies have claimed that blonde women are paid more, and as the adage goes, they have more fun. On the other hand, we’re told that blondes are dumb, ditzy, slutty. It’s all nonsense, of course - hair can no more make you a slut that it can make you have fun. What it can give you, though, is confidence - and with that you can conquer the world. Or at least make it to dinner.